Stories from Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Super Pull of the South starts July 24(07/15/09)CHAPEL HILL - The biggest, and quite possibly the loudest tractor pull in the Southeast United States starts here in nine days, according to organizers in this north Marshall County town. "We draw the pullers from all over the United States," says Chris Gilbert, chairman of the Lions Super Pull of the South, a two-day sporting event conducted July 24-25 at Forrest High School's football stadium...

Curtis finds steady ground(07/15/09)A motion for a special called meeting to discuss terminating the director of school's contract was defeated by six votes to two at a Monday night continuation of the school board's July meeting. "From my perspective, the integrity of the board is at stake when the evaluation of the director is questionable at best and we do nothing," said board member Craig Michael, who made the motion...

Columbia man stabbed in Lewisburg(07/15/09)A Columbia man was transported to Vanderbilt to be treated for stab wounds after being attacked in Lewisburg last Thursday. At the Marshall Medical Center emergency room, Officer Larry Hazelwood of the Lewisburg Police Department was told that Marcus W. Abernathy, 37, came to Lewisburg with his girlfriend to "pick up her kids at their father's house on 4th Avenue North." Abernathy and the children's father, Carlos D. Martin, 28, got into an altercation...

TBI arrests teen charged with sexual exploitation of a minor(07/15/09)The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has arrested a Belfast man "on numerous charges after it was determined he was exploiting a minor," the Bureau reported Monday. William T. Cobb, 19, of Fayetteville Highway, allegedly used text messages and photos transmitted by cell phone, the TBI said in a prepared release, noting he was booked into the Marshall County Jail and released on a $12,000 bond...

Caney Springs residents show interest in VFD(07/15/09)CANEY SPRINGS - Nearly 30 people gathered at Grace Church Ministries on Sunday afternoon to organize a committee of volunteers dedicated to creating a volunteer fire department for this community. By acclamation, Marshall County Commissioner E.W. Hill was named chairman of the committee after Bob Hopkins, director of the county's Emergency Management Agency, outlined what's needed to start a fire department...

11-year term handed down in drug case(07/15/09)A Marshall County man pleaded guilty of three drug crimes on Friday when he was sentenced to 11 years in state custody, according to Circuit Court records. Gregory Patrick Terry, 21, pleaded guilty of selling cocaine and was sentenced to 10 years by Judge Robert Crigler who sentenced Terry to an additional year on a charge of possessing the drug with the intent to sell it...

Briefs(07/15/09)Today is the last day to make reservations to attend the 2009 Forrest Alumni Annual Banquet, which will be held in the school cafeteria on Saturday, Aug. 1, with fellowship at 3 p.m. and dinner at 6 p.m. For more information visit www.forrestalumni.com or contact Katie Harris or Ricky Sweeney...

Girl's parents opposed kids soliciting on public square(07/15/09)Children shouldn't be soliciting donations in the street, according to the parents of a Marshall County High School graduate who was hit in traffic a decade ago during a soccer team fundraising roadblock. "After she got hit, all of that came to an end for quite a while," says Dan Bennington, 51, of Gina Lynn Drive, father of Nicole Aziminia, now 27, now the mother of her two-year-old son, Alex, and living in La Vergne...

Suspect Castillo sought(07/15/09)The man who stabbed a fellow Hispanic last week is still at large, according to Detective Sergeant Jimmy Oliver of the Lewisburg Police Department. Oliver interviewed the victim, Saul Ortiz, while he was still a patient in the trauma unit at Vanderbilt last week. Oliver said Ortiz selected Artemio Castillo, 34, from a photo line-up. Castillo's name had already been given to Oliver by Ortiz and by the man who witnessed the argument moments before the stabbing in front of 1537 Old Columbia Road...

School board presents proposed budget(07/15/09)The Marshall County School Board voted to present its 2009-2010 budget to the county commission's education committee this week. Discussion of items in the school board's draft budget was cut short by chairwoman Ann Tears, who called for a vote on the motion to send it on...

Teachers won't get pay raise(07/15/09)A pay raise for teachers was not among the items agreed by negotiators when they met Monday to discuss articles of the teacher's contract for next year. "We do understand what's happening in the economy, and we accept that there will be no pay raise," Marshall County Education Association lead negotiator Kathy Stapleton said...

Crime reports(07/15/09)Arrests have been made in the case of the theft of T-posts and 4 x 4 panels from the City of Lewisburg's warehouse on June 22. Each man's bond was set at $8,000 and they are both due in court on Aug. 11. Both are also charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor...

Budget committee seaching for answers with lower revenues(07/15/09)Faced with shrinking revenues from sales and property taxes, Marshall County's Budget Committee was scheduled to reach some decisions this week on an annual budget that could total some $74 million. "It is a very tight budget," said County Commissioner Don Ledford, a member of the Budget Committee. "In my estimation there will be very little taking. Everybody will have to give a little. This is not the year to dig your heels in" for more spending...

ACT Newsletter Helps Parents Help Their Children(07/15/09)ACT Newsletter Helps Parents Help Their Children Iowa City, IA -- The latest edition of ACT Parent newsletter is now available online. Designed to help children succeed as they prepare for college and careers, ACT Parent features articles that empower parents...

Obituary: Harold Douglas Wade(07/15/09)Harold Douglas "Bud" Wade, 78, of Lewisburg, died Saturday, July 11, 2009, in Vanderbilt Medical Center. Mr. Wade was a native of Marshall County. He was retired from Faber-Castell Corporation after a long career, and in 1995 he started the Tennessee Pencil Company. He was a member of Church Street Church of Christ...